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But heav'n's unchanging, and unerring will,

All things obey, and all events fulfill!

'Ev'n these malignant sprites, constrain'd by fate,

To man, whom of heaven's creatures most they hate,

'Are instruments of good: unconscious still

'Of what they do, and only bent on ill:
'From this fierce tumult particles combine,
'Of coal, and flint, calcareous, and saline:
'The principles from which each wondrous birth
'That with this robe of beauty clothes the earth,
'Proceeds. As this, or that prevails, the rose

'Gives forth her fragrance, or the violet blows,

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Springs the bright verdure, waves the golden grain,

'Or the majestic oak embrowns the plain.

'Hence too where space the porous earth supplies

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Sublim'd by heat, the steaming waters rise,

'Till near the cooler surface they subside,

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Burst forth in springs, in lucid rivers glide;

Upon whose banks perpetual sweets appear,

And flowers, and fruits, and foliage, grace the year.

'Salubrious oft they flow, endu'd with force

'Of various minerals, gather'd in their course. The shepherd to the spring his lips applies; ' Unlook'd for health the healing spring supplies: 'The conscious swain his grateful homage pays,

And pours his soul to heav'n in pray'r and praise.

'For, to the race of man, from lake and rill,

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'The sunny champain, rich with fruits and grain;

The gliding river; and the stormy main;

• In the still darkness of the fearful night;

The moon's fair radiance; Hesper's dewy light;

The orient beams that fire the eastern skies;

'A God, a God, the voice of nature cries!

'On him, my son, rely. His aid implore.

'He only can thy Paladour restore.

Thou can'st not err, if truth thy course direct,

Nor perish if Almighty pow'r protect.' Discoursing thus, they reach the fertile plain,

Where that fair river to th' Hibernian main

Directs his flood, and proudly o'er the stream,
The lofty towers of Maridunum gleam.

Not far from thence, deep in a shadowy dell,
Dwelt the great master of the magic spell.
What time, deceiv'd by that perfidious fay,
He bade a long farewell to cheerful day.
'Twas here Melissa made the knight restrain
His courser, and dismounting,, fix the rein.

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'In heav'n, who favours virtuous deeds, confide.'

Then leads the way. Abrupt the deep descent,
Shagg'd with rude rocks, of fathomless extent,

And dark with tenfold night. Yet might the eye
Far off a faint, and glimming ray descry ;
Like the bright worm that scares the village maid,
Whose lover waits her in the lonely glade.
Scarce has his foot o'erstepp'd the sacred bound,
Some pow'r unseen uplifts him from the ground.
So swift his motion, that it leaves behind
The light, and rapid glances of the mind.

A few short minutes measure half the way,

Which parts the centre of the earth from day.
And now, before the knight's astonish'd eyes,
Proud rooms of state in gorgeous beauty rise.
From the mid space beams forth a dazzling light,
Beyond the sun's meridian lustre bright.

а

Nor err'd Ferrara's bard, whose piercing mind

The strange effect to magic art assign'd.

By fairy hands the glitt'ring dome was rais'd;

By fairy pow'r the radiant glory blaz'd.

As Cadwall and Melissa nearer drew,

Where stood the wizard's tomb reveal'd to view;

Forth from the marble breathe melodious airs;

The ghost, in strains divine, the will of fate declares;

Reveals the subtle train, the guileful sprite,

The doleful prison of the luckless knight;

And all the terrors of that gloomy cave,

Whose dreadful forms might well appall the brave,

a Ariosto.

'From yonder column, lo, a golden shield

'Sheds dazzling radiance from its ample field;

"Nor does its inner surface, polish'd bright,

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With force diminish'd, back return the light.

'Bind on thine arm the splendid orb, and know

'How vast a boon the fav'ring fates bestow.

Though all the pow'rs beneath the earth who dwell;)

'Though Hecat, threeform'd goddess, weave the spell;

'Whate'er illusion magic art may raise,

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Its mirror still unclouded truth displays.

Grasp too yon sword. Less dreadful flam'd of yore

'The thund'ring weapon bright Escalibore,b

"When Uther's son, from lögerne's bed,

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'Foredoom'd a wond'rous birth, around him heap'd the

dead.

'Proceed then fearless, where good omens lead:

'Proceed, and conquest crown thy gen'rous deed.'

b So called by Drayton.

Et gravidam Arthuro fatali fraude lögernen. MILTON.

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